


Blood

by demiclar



Series: Destcember 2020 [27]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Destcember 2020, Edon + the gang, The Red War (Destiny), just a bunch of guardians, pre-Torak joining the gang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:01:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28378890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demiclar/pseuds/demiclar
Summary: On the night Ghaul attacks the City, fireteam Aadya hopes to take down Ghaul before it's too late.
Series: Destcember 2020 [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037118
Collections: Fireteam Aadya





	Blood

**Author's Note:**

> This is the start of a chapter in a work I'd like to someday make about my gang of Guardians during the Red War. Who knows if I'll ever make it.

There was blood on Damian’s hands when he paused for a moment of rest atop the City wall. He only allowed himself a moment to breathe, his chest heaving against the confines of his heavy chestplate. He knew it was only seconds that ticked past as he stared out at the ruined city below him, but it felt like an eternity. An eternity of staring at the smoke and blood below him couldn’t make him believe it. He didn’t want to.

The blood on his hands threatened to convince him, though. He glanced down at them as Kylie healed them quickly, repairing the damage he’d done to them while clawing rubble off of civilians and Tower workers. He’d hauled out their half broken bodies and had prayed they would live as he delivered them over to waiting Guardians. Seeing the wreckage spread out below him, he knew many of them would not.

Damian had only barely recognized the emblem that marked the Cabal ships that had invaded their city. The Red Legion, the same force that had decimated a little village on Earth, months ago. Why were they taking on the city? Why would they challenge the Light? Why now?

The questions had become much less important when the ships had descended on their airspace. The wall generators had gone down, their barricades and dozens of their guns with it. Fighters had been scrambled as soon as they’d had eyes on the ships, but even dozens of Guardian ships couldn’t put a dent in the Legion’s formation. They’d flown in like the city was already theirs, and within moments, the last safe city on earth became the largest battlefield Damian had ever fought on.

Gloves reformed over his hands and he tore his gaze from the City to glace behind him as a hand found its way to grip his shoulder. He tried not to sigh in relief as his fireteam leader’s hand squeezed his shoulder, Balendin’s bright eyes finding his in sharp focus.

“Where is Tessa?” The Titan demanded, not taking his eyes off Damian as he dared another glance at the city below them. Balendin had been busy loading civilians into guardian ships that were evacuating them as far from the City as they could bear before they returned to bring more, or to be shot down. Kylie had managed to get most of Damian’s ships out of the hangar before the Red Legion had blown up the whole complex, and she’d given all of them to Amanda Holiday to use to in the evacuation efforts. He’d already recognized a few of them being used to evacuate civilians. He prayed they were strong enough to bear the enemy fire.

“She’s on her way.” Damian promised, meeting Balendin’s eyes again. The Titan had ordered their fireteam to rendezvous on the wall with him, determined to end this assault before they lost the whole city. Dozens of fireteams were already doing the same, but still none had yet reached the command ship that led the assault. If their attack was to be any different… Damian could already tell they would need the whole team to take out the Cabal in charge of the Legion, a famous warlord named Ghaul.

“We need to go now.” Another voice ordered from nearby, and Damian looked over to see Edon approaching them, a rocket launcher in his hands. “Ada and Estella are already nearby. We can clear the way and Tessa can join us when she gets into the city.” He told them, opening his mouth to continue only to be interrupted by a high shriek from a Cabal engine.

From above them, a Cabal ship dove down, headed straight for their little huddle on the wall. The group leapt into action quickly, Balendin throwing a shield around them as Edon reloaded his launcher, stepping out quickly to fire a rocket at the ship. The rocket hit the ship’s right engine, exploding and sending it into a frantic spin headed towards the wall to their left. Damian readied a Nova Bomb in his hand, leaping into the air and flinging it at the ship, hoping to vaporize it before it could collide with the wall. He threw it at the ship, watching them collide just as another bomb hit it on its other side. Together, two massive balls of void devoured the ship whole, and Damian looked up to see Estella landing on the wall nearby, Ada rushing up behind her.

“We need to go.” Estella told them, just as Balendin let the shield collapse.

“Yes.” The Awoken agreed, “Edon was just saying the same thing.”

He proceeded to step away from their group, taking his nearest Titan by the arm to rattle off a series of orders that Damian only half heard and certainly didn’t understand. The Titan did, however, offering a quick nod and rushing off to relay the orders to the rest of the Guardians still holding the wall. Damian shoved his mind away from the realization that even their defense could hardly be described as holding the wall. There was no line on this battlefield. The fight transcended air and land, the space within the city and outside. Friend and foe were all around them, the flashes of Light so indistinguishable from the explosions and fire ripping from the Cabal’s own guns and weapons.

“Commander Zavala,” Balendin said, his voice so jarring Damian almost stumbled. He did when an explosion sounded behind them, but other than an assessing glance, the team payed it no mind. Balendin continued with hardly a pause, speaking through the coms as his ghost connected him to the Vanguard channel. “Fireteam Aadya requesting permission to engage the command ship.”

“Go!” Came the commander’s barked reply. “I’ll have Amanda Holiday send teams to transport you there!”

“Understood.” Balendin responded, turning his gaze to settle upon the command ship flying high above the city. Above it, a massive, six pronged device latched onto the traveler like a leech. Damian fought back bile. He had no idea what the device might do, but his stomach flipped at the sight of it.

“Fireteam Aadya, approaching on your left side.” A voice spoke up through their comms, and Damian looked to see a city Hawk zipping towards them, shooting down Cabal ships as it went. “Prepare for transmatt.”

The ship slowed to fly past them, slowing so that they might be able to transmatt inside. He followed his team to the lip of the wall, watching it approach, weaving its way through enemy fire. It had almost reached them before something struck its engine, and Damian heard the pilot cry out in surprise, the ship quickly slipping from their control.

“It’s going to crash!” Ada warned, the group already moving back from the lip of the wall. For a moment, Damian didn’t believe her, as the ship was headed away from the wall. He realized just as quickly the wall was not the target Ada was worried about.

Across the wall from them, a set of antiaircraft guns defended an evacuation point, ships rushing in to pick up passengers before struggling away, dangerously overloaded with people. One of these ships had just pulled away from the wall, weighed down by its passengers. The spinning ship was headed straight towards it.

Damian was in the air before he understood that he was moving, wings of burning light carrying him high up as he gathered his light into his hands and flung it out at the spinning ship. An inferno of solar light engulfed the ship, burning for only seconds before an explosion tore through it and sent him crashing back to the wall. He hit the edge with a crack, his momentum enough to throw him onto the surface and slide across it, pain rioting through his body even as he scrambled to raise his head to see where the ship had gone. What met him was only pieces, and the evacuating ship, damaged but alright as it struggled off with its heavy load.

He didn’t climb to his feet as he spotted his friends, his teammates, shell shocked as they stared at what had just unfolded before them.

“That pilot…” Ada breathed, her gaze shifting back to him. “That was a civilian pilot.”

The words clattered through his chest, through his soul, even as he worked to sit up. A civilian, he’d just killed a civilian. He didn’t have time to open his mouth before Estella was gripping his arm, helping him to his feet while Kylie appeared beside him, healing him once more and fixing his broken chestplate beneath his robes.

“We don’t have time to think about that now.” She told the group, nodding to the escaping ship. “The people are safe, that’s all that matters.”

Balendin nodded gravely. “She’s right. We need to go. I have a ship in orbit. It was damaged getting out of the Tower, but it should be able to get us at least to the command ship. I’ll have it meet us away from the civilians.”

Estella pulled him to his feet, and together the team raced to follow Balendin towards his incoming ship. Damian prayed they’d be able to make a difference, to stop the Legion before it was too late.


End file.
